ERT to Stop Broadcasting Golden Dawn Speeches Live

Public television channel ERT announced on Monday it will no longer broadcast live the speeches or events of Golden Dawn MPs, while a committee will decide whether to broadcast recorded material. The decision comes after the furore caused over the weekend by the broadcast of a Golden Dawn event to mark the Imia crisis of 1996.

“ERT had sent a query to the National Council for Radio and Television (NCRTV) on whether it is obliged to broadcast Golden Dawn’s speeches and events. The NCRTV decided that under Article 15 of the Constitution, ERT is required to observe, on the one hand, the principle of proportional equality, but on the other, not to broadcast racist and xenophobic events, which however, are legal concepts which ‘have not yet been legally processed and specialized’,” ERT president Dionysis Tsaknis said, responding to the criticism.

“Therefore, the management of ERT decided that: 1) Golden Dawn speeches will not broadcast live and 2) a committee will decide on whether the recorded material can be broadcast or not,” he added.

On its side, the NCRTV — the TV regulator — has not reacted to ERT’s decision and said it will review the material and make recommendations, if deemed necessary, to the public television channel.(source: ana-mpa)